The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has obtained an audio recording of Hawks GM Danny Ferry making racially-charged comments about Luol Deng during his free agency this summer. The story was originally that

During the nearly two-minute portion of the hour-long conference call which occurred on June 6, Ferry said, “He’s a good guy overall … but he’s not perfect. He’s got some African in him. And I don’t mean that in a bad way.”

An individual on the call, believed to be Hawks co-owner Michael Gearon Jr., then states, “That’s going to be on TMZ tomorrow.”

Some other people on the call can be heard laughing, but Ferry continues. “He has a storefront out front that’s beautiful and great but he may be selling some counterfeit stuff behind you. And when I say that I mean, for example, he can come out and be an unnamed source for a story and two days later come out and say, ‘That absolutely was not me. I can’t believe someone said that.’ But talking to reporters, you know know it’s him.

“He can be a lawyer in the locker room when the coach is not around, but when the coach is around he’s the greatest guy in the world,” Ferry continued. “In Chicago, they would tell you that he was good for their culture but he was not a culture setter. He played hard and all those things, but he was very worried about, you know, his bobblehead being the last one given away that year, or there was not enough stuff of him in the team store. He’s kind of, a little bit of a complex guy.”

Michael Gearon Jr. lost on two fronts: the basketball court and his wallet. The NBA fined the Atlanta Hawks’ co-owner for comments made prior to Game 6 of the Hawks/Celtics series. Per the AJC: “The NBA fined Hawks co-owner Michael Gearon Jr. and forward Ivan Johnson for their actions during the team’s recent playoff series against the Celtics. The league fined Gearon $35,000 for public criticism of officials and negative comments about Celtics forward Kevin Garnett. The NBA docked Johnson for making an obscene gesture to Celtics fans as he left the court following the Hawks’ loss Thursday in Boston. A Hawks spokesman said the team would have no comment on the discipline against Gearon and Johnson. The NBA announced the fines Saturday.”

Atlanta Hawks co-owner Michael Gearon Jr. called Kevin Garnett “the dirtiest guy in the League” prior to last night’s Game 6 between the Boston and Atlanta. Needless to say, things didn’t turn out so well for Michael, and KG made sure to let him know all about it during the postgame presser. From the Boston Herald: “First off I want to say thank you to their owner for giving me some extra gas tonight,’ Garnett said. ‘My only advice to him is next time he opens his mouth actually know what he’s talking about — X’s and O’s versus his checkbook and the bottom line.’ Later, KG added, ‘We’re not dirty. We play aggressive. We’re not dirty. You have to understand the word dirty in this game is very defined — going under guys, trying to hurt guys, ill intent. That’s not the way we play basketball. We play very, very respectable to the opponent, the city we’re in, the game. We play with a lot of passion, play with force. It’s the playoffs. I haven’t been here trying to hurt anybody, nor has my team. I just found that comment to be a little rude and a little out of hand, and I wanted to address it. Just because you’ve got a bunch of money don’t mean you can open your mouth.’”